It was the afternoon of October 30th, the day before Halloween. It was also the night known as Rachel Alucard's birthday. All of her friends and family (and Terumi and Relius) knew she always had a big birthday celebration/Halloween party at her mansion and she always had plenty of Halloween-themed food, fun, and activities there. She was sitting in the middle of her rose garden, sipping her afternoon tea and planning out her party.
"Valkenhayn," she called out to her butler. "Would you be so kind as to come here for a moment?" Within seconds, her longtime family friend and butler, Valkenhayn R. Hellsing of the famous Six Heroes, was at her side ready to assist her.
"Yes, milady, what can I do for you?" he asked. Rachel revealed all of the invitation cards and envelopes she had at her table alongside a quill.
"As you know, my annual birthday celebration is tomorrow night and I am going to be inviting the usual people, however I am considering inviting new guests this year," Rachel explained. "My dilemma is I cannot recall any other people that I have met that I can stand long enough to invite. Can you think of anyone?"
Valkenhayn put his hand to his chin for a minute in deep thought. "Well, if I remember correctly, nearly a year ago you had assisted three young gentlemen in getting themselves home and they seemed to enjoy yours and most of your acquaintances' presences. Why not consider them?" Valkenhayn suggested.
Rachel embraced the idea. "Ed, Edd, and Eddy? That is actually a very interesting suggestion, Valkenhayn. However, I am not quite sure how to get them here as getting them home was not an easy task, nor was getting myself home either," she sighed. "If there is a way that they can get here with little difficulty, then I will gladly invite them."
Valkenhayn bowed. "Then I shall be more than happy to take on the task to invite them and assist them in their travels." He started to walk away when he turned around to look at his master. "Miss Rachel, would you like me to have them bring guests of their own as well?"
Rachel thought for a moment. "I will allow them to bring one guest each and they must be careful about who they decide to bring. I will not tolerate any kind of ruckus at my birthday celebration lest they have a death wish. And not in the Halloween sense either," she warned. "And while you are out and about finding ideas, please deliver these invitations to my guests."
Valkenhayn took the invitations and put them all in his pocket. "Very well, milady. I will seek out methods to get to their dimension at once," he said as he teleported away to deliver the invitations and to search for ways to get to Peach Creek.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Kokonoe, Tager, and Lambda were sitting in the Sector Seven lab trying to think up more ideas on how to explore the Boundary. Thanks to Ed, Edd, 'N Eddy's dilemma last year, they had a machine capable of exploration without getting consumed by it like it did to Roy, now Arakune.
"Lambda, get me a banana and some rope," Kokonoe instructed. "Tager, switch the portal on. We're going to see what the Boundary can do to inanimate objects before we end up going in there."
Tager cocked an eyebrow in confusion. "Okay, but why a banana? What are we gaining from using fruit as our test subject?"
"Well, you're more than welcome to explore the Boundary yourself, Tager," Kokonoe sneered. "Definitely be faster results. But at the moment, our lowest-risk test subject is a piece of fruit."
"Damn, I wish I knew a way that we can get through the Boundary without getting corrupted. A banana's a start, but I can't tell what would happen to a life form versus an inanimate object," Kokonoe said wistfully. "Well, we have to work with what we've got. Lambda, tie a rope to the banana and the other end to my desk. As soon as you're done with that, throw the banana into the portal. We'll leave it in there for 10 minutes and then see how it is."
"Requesting permission to give alternate suggestion," Lambda said.
Kokonoe sighed. "An alternate suggestion to get through the Boundary? Are your circuits screwed up again Lambda? What other way is there than going through it ourselves?"
Lambda closed her ruby red eyes. "Loading….. loading….. suggestion loaded. Subjects Ed, Double Dee, and Eddy had transcended the Boundary in the previous months. Their success was confirmed by Rachel Alucard. Perhaps we may request her help in completing this task."
Kokonoe's eyes narrowed. "Seriously? No WAY am I asking for that bloodsucking bitch's help again! Science can do this, I know it can!"
Ever the voice of reason, Tager spoke up. "Kokonoe, you may want to reconsider. After all, Rachel Alucard has been through the Boundary with the boys before and ensured their success unharmed. She may prove useful in finding ways of traveling through it on our own using science."
Kokonoe hit her head on her desk in frustration and started to peel the banana that was still attached to the rope. "Fine," she said, munching away at it. "but if this goes south, you're getting an 'upgrade,' if you know what I mean Tager."
Tager gulped at the thought of getting another upgrade by Kokonoe. Before he could protest that threat, Valkenhayn teleported into the lab. Everyone was shocked at the sudden intrusion.
"Valkenhayn!" Kokonoe yelled. "It's bad enough Rachel doesn't knock, but you too? I would at least let YOU in!"
"My apologies, Miss Kokonoe, but I have come to the lab for two reasons. The first is to invite you three to Madam Rachel's extravagant birthday party tomorrow night at her estate," the butler said as he passed out invitations to the three. "The second reason is because we would like access to your machine that had assisted us in traveling through the Boundary nearly a year past. I would assume it is still in working order based on it being open?"
Kokonoe looked at the machine and then backed to the old hero. "Funny you say that, we were just testing out ideas on how to travel through the Boundary again after the Eds got through unscathed. Mind me asking WHY you need this exactly?"
Valkenhayn chuckled. "Well you see, my mistress is inviting guests to her annual birthday party tomorrow night and is inviting the usuals. But she has considered using this machine to travel to Peach Creek and retrieve the boys and a few of their other friends for her party since they were on good terms the last time they were here. We had managed to get through successfully last time, so we thought we could do this again. Would you agree to us using this?"
Kokonoe thought for a moment, and then a lightbulb went off on the top of her head. "Thanks Tager," she said to him while he lit up the bulb. "Well, this would actually work out well for both of us. Rachel wants to get the boys back, she can do it, as long as she agrees to be our test subject for this Boundary travel since we don't know if it'll work a second time. Do we have a deal?" she asked as she held out her hand. Valkenhayn smiled and shook the beastkin's hand.
"I will return momentarily with Madam Rachel so that we may perform this experiment," Valkenhayn said with a bow as he teleported away.
Kokonoe breathed a sigh of relief. "As much as I hate Rachel, I'm glad we at least have a test subject willing to go through the portal. Let's just hope we didn't get lucky last time."
"Odds of success, 95%," Lambda reassured. "The professor must not need to worry herself. Subjects were human and traveled safely through the Boundary."
"What about the other 5% Lambda?" Tager asked.
"Insurance purposes," Lambda answered. "Success is not always 100% no matter what happens. We must always consider all possibilities." Tager bowed his head in agreement at the statement. Within a minute, Rachel and Valkenhayn teleported back into the lab.
"I see that we have a deal, yes?" Rachel asked.
"That's right. Be my lab rat and go through the portal and you're more than welcome to bring the boys back, assuming you don't get stuck there." Kokonoe answered.
"You have my gratitude, however do you not have the need for the Azure like last time? Or did that little detail slip from your mind when planning this?"
Kokonoe laughed. "Of course I thought of that! But since that little episode we had, I figured out how to use the Idea Engine to power it up instead of the Azure. See? Science is progressing."
Rachel pursed her lips. "Very well then, if you insist that your methods are correct, then I will take my leave and be back within a couple of hours." She was about to step into the portal when Kokonoe stopped her.
"Before you go, I need you to tie this rope around your waist," she instructed. "As much as I would love to leave your aristocratic ass in there, I need to make sure that travel in there is safe. You know, for my research."
"Aren't you the caring one," Rachel retorted as she tied the rope around her. 30 seconds later, she had stepped into the portal to go find the Eds.
